Before the Dawn
by Deanie
Summary: Evil attacks in Sunnydale, leaving Willow, Buffy and the Scooby Gang in a race to save Legolas's life. (BtVS/Angel/LotR/Andromeda). Sequel to "In the Forests of the Night" and concurrent with "Always Darkest."
1. Default Chapter

Title: Before the Dawn  
  
Author: Deanie  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Genre: BtVS/LotR/Andromeda crossover  
  
Timing: This story is a sequel to "In the Forests of the Night", and occurs concurrently with "Always Darkest" (my Andromeda/Angel crossover).  
  
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own these characters. Willow and the Buffy crew belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Legolas and all things elfy belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien. Trance Gemini belongs to Tribune.  
  
Distribution: After the Hellmouth (http://www.creative-insanity.net/ath/) , List archives, others please ask.  
  
Author's Notes: For Buffy, this takes place early season seven after "Same Time, Same Place" and "Help," but before "Selfless." For "Lord of the Rings," this story follows book/movie canon until after the Ring War, but becomes AU sometime after that. Note that this story takes place several weeks after "In the Forests of the Night." For Andromeda, takes place starting in the season two finale, "The Tunnel at the End of the Light."  
  
Thanks to: Canada and Carol, for their beta-ing, and Valerie and Carol (again) for their suggestions. Thanks guys!  
  
****  
  
In the Summers' kitchen, Willow sat staring out the window. She sipped her cup of coffee, hoping the caffeinated warmth would give her the energy to move from that spot.  
  
"Hey."  
  
Willow looked up as Buffy walked into the kitchen, slowly pouring her own cup of coffee before joining her friend at the table.  
  
"How are you doing?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Me? I'm okay. How are you? I mean, with everything that happened with Cassie and all..."  
  
"I should feel okay. After all, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it looks like an apocalypse-free day. But I'm not." Buffy smiled ruefully. "Aren't we a pair? Me, mourning the girl I couldn't save, and you... well, you haven't been the same since..."  
  
"Since I got back from Breaker's Woods." The redhead couldn't bring herself to meet her best friend's seeking gaze. She didn't know what to say. She hadn't been terribly stable while in England, and the events of the last few weeks hadn't made it any better. She didn't know how she'd managed to find the courage to visit Tara's grave, just that she couldn't let her late girlfriend spend her birthday all alone.  
  
"This elf guy really did a number on you," Buffy commented.  
  
"It's just..." Willow stopped, unsure of how to explain what she was feeling. "I loved Tara. A big part of me always will. I never thought I'd feel that way again, certainly never so soon." Willow smiled, despite her grief, at the thought of her first glimpse of Legolas. "Then I saw him. At first I thought I'd imagined him. It actually hurt me to think that he might not be real, because I felt connected to him, even before we'd said a word to each other. I was so desperate to prove to myself that he was real that I went into the woods, in the dark, to look for him."  
  
The witch looked over at her friend. Did Buffy understand what she was trying to say? "We're connected, Legolas and myself, in a way that goes beyond anything I've ever felt before. I loved him from the first moment I saw him. If I believed in the concept, I'd want to call him my soulmate. But he's lived so long, and lost so much. He's protected himself for thousands of years, always alone, never making a connection."  
  
"He made a connection with you," Buffy pointed out.  
  
"He refused to admit it, even to himself. He's so desperately alone, but can't change that because he doesn't believe he can survive losing anyone else he loves." Willow couldn't fight the tears that started falling. "I love him, and I'm never going to see him again. Worse, I'm living here, with you, my friends, surrounded by love...and he's out there, somewhere, alone. Forever."  
  
Buffy stood up, pulling Willow into her arms as she cried. "I'm sorry, Will." Soothingly, she rubbed her friend's back as her sobs quieted. "He doesn't know what he's missing."  
  
Willow pulled back, shaking her head. "That's the problem. He does."  
  
****  
  
He staggered down the sidewalk, fighting to remain upright. His vision narrowed to two small points before his eyes and a wave of fatigue threatened to drive him to his knees. Legolas concentrated on breathing, praying to Iluvatar for the strength to continue on. He had not believed there existed a mystical poison strong enough to kill his kind until it had happened. The arrow had seemed to appear from thin air, but he had thought himself safe as it had not inflicted a mortal wound. He had fought off the evil ones and escaped with his life, with the precious object in hand. While all-out war against evil was still at hand, he had won that battle for the forces of good.  
  
Then the pain had set in. Blinding waves of agony had washed over him, accompanied by a fever that had left him delirious and barely able to walk.  
  
Still he had kept it safe from the demons and forces of darkness. The Dark Lord could not prevail, not this time. The sacrifices his people and his friends once made were not in vain.  
  
He was not long for this world, and if he died, it would be unprotected. None of the elves remaining on the earth were near. Legolas only had one person he could trust with this secret. He did not want to put her in any more danger than she was already in because she was a witch and a friend of the Slayer. But no ordinary mortal could survive when the evil ones came for their treasure. He needed supernatural assistance.  
  
He worried about the temptation, did not want to risk Willow's tenuous grasp on peace after her brush with the darkness. But he knew she was strong. She had faced evil, faced the temptation to destroy the world, and had overcome it. She could overcome this as well. She had to. The world was depending on it.  
  
He looked up. 1630 Revello Drive. He was just steps away.  
  
****  
  
Dawn sat in the living room, a Pepsi in one hand and Brockman's Concise Guide to Modern Demons in the other. She wasn't researching anything specific, but more demon knowledge was always a good, especially if she wanted to become a full-fledged member of the Scooby Gang.  
  
She jumped at the sound of a thump at the front door, then sat silently, listening. The thump came again; someone -- or something -- was knocking on the front door. She looked out the window. It was a bright sunny day, so there definitely couldn't be vampires at the front door. Still, in Sunnydale, the thump-making-thing could be any sort of demon... or it could be Xander.  
  
Getting up, Dawn headed over to the front door and peered through the window. A tall man with long blonde hair was leaning against the doorjamb. Hmm... He didn't look demony. In fact, he looked like quite the muffin.  
  
"Hi," she said as she opened the door. Up close, he didn't look too good. Pale, sweaty and shaky he looked like he could barely keep himself on his feet. "Can I help you?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"Willow," he gasped, slumping to the ground halfway inside the door.  
  
"Buffy! Willow!" Dawn yelled frantically. She bent down, shaking the man's shoulders. "Hey, mister..."  
  
He didn't stir.  
  
Buffy and Willow ran in from the kitchen at Dawn's shout.  
  
"What's going on?" Buffy asked, stopping abruptly at the sight of the body halfway in her house. "You killed somebody?"  
  
The teenager protested vehemently. "I didn't kill him. He just...fell at my feet...and I don't think he's dead."  
  
"Legolas!" Willow exclaimed. "Get him inside."  
  
The three half-dragged, half-carried him into the living room and got him on the couch. Willow felt his pulse, faint and thready. "Get some water," she ordered Dawn, continuing her examination of his unconscious body. His skin was hot, the sweat pouring off of him, and his breaths were weak and shallow. One hand dangled off the couch, his fist clutched, as if he were holding something.   
  
Buffy felt his forehead. "He's burning up."  
  
Dawn came back with a bowl of water and a clean washcloth. Willow wiped the sweat off of Legolas's face, but the elf didn't open his eyes. "Come on," she urged him. "You have to wake up. You have to tell me what did this so I can figure out how to make it better."  
  
"Let's get some of these clothes off of him... cool him down," Willow suggested. Together, they pulled of his leather jacket and woolen sweater, leaving him clad in a thin green t-shirt and leather pants. Dawn pulled off his boots and socks.  
  
"You said elves were immortal, right?" Buffy asked. When Willow nodded, she continued. "So how could he be sick like this? He's got a fever and he's all shaky. This has to be more than just the flu."  
  
"He's been poisoned...or cursed somehow." Willow fought back the tears welling up in her eyes. "He can't get sick, so an attack of some kind is the only explanation. It'd have to be something mystical, and something really strong to take him down like this."  
  
Legolas flinched as Willow brushed against his left side. She pulled up his t-shirt to reveal a gaping wound.  
  
"God, Will, that looks horrible," Buffy remarked.   
  
Willow grimaced. If he'd been wounded, then maybe the wound was the source for his mysterious illness. Angel had been poisoned once, by an arrow shot by Faith. Maybe Legolas had been poisoned by a mystical arrow...or something like that.  
  
"What's he got in his hand?" Dawn asked.  
  
Willow shrugged. Could he be holding onto something related to his attack? He fought her as she tried to pull his clenched fist apart. "Shh," she murmured soothingly. "It's Willow. It's okay, you're safe here."  
  
"Meleth," he gasped.  
  
"Shh," she whispered as she finally pried his fingers apart. There, in his hand, was a gold ring.  
  
"All that for a ring?" Dawn moved in for a closer look. "It's shiny and all, but I'm pretty sure you can get one just like it at the mall for $99.95."  
  
Willow could sense that this wasn't an ordinary ring -- it was pure evil. As her hand hovered over the ring, she heard it calling to her, tempting her, promising power, wealth... and the ability to heal her love. If she would put it on, everything would be okay. Willow reached for the ring, watching it shine in the late-morning sunlight. All she had to do was put it on, and everything she wished for would come true...  
  
Willow jerked her hand away. "This is no ordinary ring. It's evil and powerful. We need to put somewhere, to keep it safe."  
  
"Oh!" Dawn's eyes widened and she sprung backwards. "I know!" She sprinted up the stairs in the direction of her room.  
  
Buffy and Willow shared a look. Neither knew what Dawn was going to d0.  
  
She came down the stairs carrying a small wooden box with tiny holes on one end. "It's an Ephrata Box. It's magically designed to keep things in, safe, and protected from evil." She handed it to Willow. "Remember, Will? We bought it a while ago, when Amy was still a rat and kept getting out of her cage? We thought it would might her out of trouble...especially with all the evil we have barging in here. It should work for things, not just animals, right?"  
  
"Perfect." With all that she'd been through since then, she'd completely forgotten about the box. Good thing Dawn remembered.  
  
Keeping minimal contact with the ring, she quickly shut it up in the box. "Now all we have to do is figure out exactly what poisoned Legolas and how to counteract it." She turned to Willow. "Could this be related to the evil thing you saw in the woods? The thing that impersonated the Master?"  
  
"I don't know." Willow shrugged. "I couldn't even find any information on what it could be."  
  
"But it might be." Buffy had a bad feeling about all of this. It couldn't be coincidence. She shook her head. Had to get back on track. "We need to research mystical/magical potions and spells that could hurt an elf."  
  
"I'll hit the books," Dawn offered.  
  
"I'll try the 'net," Willow said.  
  
"When Angel was poisoned, Wesley said that the Watcher's Council had a list of all known poisons - mystical or otherwise. I'll call Giles...Wesley...Quentin Travers if I have to." She helped Willow to her feet, meeting the other woman's eyes. "We'll find the cure, Willow. I know it."  
  
"I hope so," she said. "It was bad enough when I thought he was out there somewhere, lonely and miserable. I don't know what I'd do if he died."  
  
"He's not going to die, Will. We're going to beat this thing." She patted her friend on the shoulder. "Let's get to work." 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Buffy looked at her watch, trying to calculate the time difference between Sunnydale and England. If it was 11:30 am here...   
  
Aw, screw it. She had to talk to him now, whatever time it was in Crumpet-ville. She quickly picked up the phone and dialed his number.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
Buffy immediately felt better just by hearing his voice. "Giles? It's me. We've got trouble."  
  
Of course, Giles thought. When were they ever *not* in trouble? Even from thousands of miles away, his mind immediately slipped into Watcher mode. "What kind of trouble?"  
  
"Willow's elf friend has been poisoned. We need to find an antidote."  
  
Giles blinked. Was he hallucinating? "Did you say elf?" he asked in disbelief.  
  
"Yep," Buffy replied.  
  
"Are you sure?" He still couldn't believe it. An elf in Sunnydale would be an extraordinary occurrence.  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Long, shiny hair, pointy ears, weird name... yep. Elf. I'm sure." Giles really needed to get over this 'is it an elf' thing and concentrate on the job at hand.  
  
"It's just that... there are so few elves still alive here on earth, and those who remain generally keep to themselves and don't interact with humans. Their magical nature actually makes them invisible to most people, so it's exceedingly rare to meet one of them."  
  
"Well, Willow met one of them in the woods a couple of weeks ago. And he showed up on our doorstep today. She hadn't talked to him since, but now he's sick, Giles. Fevery, sweaty, lying barely conscious on my couch. He's got some kind of wound on his chest, and Willow thinks that somehow he's been poisoned."  
  
"If he is truly ill, then a magical poison would be the logical cause. Those of pure Elven blood are immortal; they don't age, and they don't get ill. Anything that could make a true elf sick would have to be mystical in origin, though I've never heard of any sort of poison that would harm one."  
  
"Well this one is way harmed. Will thinks he's dying." Buffy paused, trying to impose the seriousness of the situation on her mentor. "She barely knows him, but she really loves this guy, Giles. We're talking a 'soulmate' kind of love. I don't know what she'd do if anything happened to him. She can't survive another loss, not so soon after Tara."  
  
"I'll look into it from here. I must consult my books. I'm sure I have a volume somewhere that deals with magical poisons..." He stopped as he heard Buffy's laughter. "What?"  
  
"Same old Giles. You've got a book for everything." She felt a weight lift off her shoulders, knowing that with Giles and his books on the case, they had a much better chance of finding a cure.  
  
"I'll contact the Watcher's Council, see what they know. You may want to talk to Wesley, as well. He may have come across something similar to this during his studies."  
  
"He's next on my to do list. Talking to him, that is..." she clarified. "Thanks. I'll talk to you later, when we know more."  
  
"Wait!" he shouted. His curiosity was whetted. Who was this mysterious elf who was in Buffy's living room? So many of the elves who remained on this Earth were heroes of old. "Did he tell you his name?"  
  
"Legolas." Though she'd often gotten names of demonic foes incorrect, she'd made a special effort to learn the name of the elf who had her best friend so enchanted.  
  
"Legolas?" Giles asked, stunned. Could it really be he? One of the most famous elves in all of history?  
  
"You know him?" Buffy was startled. Could Will's honey be an elf hero or something?  
  
"Know of him, actually. He's quite well known, at least to scholars of Elvish history."  
  
"You've studied Elvish history?"  
  
"Of course. It's a standard part of Watcher training. We're not all about vampires, you know," He informed her. "Thousands of years ago, the Dark Lord Sauron mounted an attempt to conquer the world. Legolas was part of the Fellowship that journeyed to the land of Mordor to destroy Sauron's weapon, the One Ring, an enchanted ring with the ability to enslave all the people of the earth."  
  
Ring. The dark lord had a ring. And now there was an evil, magical ring sitting in a box in her living room. Buffy gulped. Could be a coincidence, she hoped fervently. "Uh, Giles? You're sure this Fellowship destroyed the evil ring, right?"  
  
"Yes. Historical records clearly state that the ring was destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. Of that, I am certain."  
  
Mount Doom. Boca del Infierno. Gathering places of evil always had such interesting names. But back to what Giles had been saying. "I don't think it's quite as destroyed as history says it was," she said hesitantly.  
  
"What?" Giles exclaimed. How could she even know about the One Ring? Buffy had to be mistaken. Any other idea was too horrible to contemplate.  
  
"I think it's in my living room."  
  
Giles eyes widened. It could not be. "Good Lord!"  
  
"What do we do with it?" she asked. She was Slay Girl, she'd destroyed evil things before. They could handle this one, right?  
  
"Good Lord!" If this were true...  
  
"Giles?" Buffy expected him to say 'Good Lord' once...that was a given with Giles, but twice? She was beginning to think they were in big trouble.  
  
This was terrible, a disaster beyond all measure. If the One Ring had not been destroyed, the entire world was in mortal danger. If it had not been destroyed then, after being thrown into the fiery chasm of Mount Doom, was it even possible to destroy the ring? "Good Lord, Buffy."  
  
"Will you stop saying that?" she asked, beginning to panic. Anything that could scare Giles this much was serious bad news.  
  
"It's just that... the One Ring...arguably the most destructive object in the history of the world. It's more than mere metal...it's alive in a certain way. It has its own will, its own plans, and it wants to be in the hands of evil. It tempts, corrupts..."  
  
Buffy interrupted. "So this evil, alive, corrupting thing is in my living room." This was so not good.  
  
"It can't be. You must be mistaken," Giles concentrated on breathing. There had been many magical rings used throughout history. No need to panic when they didn't even know exactly what Buffy currently possessed. "What led you to believe what you have may be the One Ring?"  
  
"Legolas had it when he arrived. Clenched in his fist, like he'd protect it with his life. When Willow touched it..." Buffy explained.  
  
"She touched it? The Ring?" Had it tempted her? Did she have the strength to resist if it had?  
  
Buffy frowned, remembering Willow's strange reaction to the ring. "Yeah, she got this weird look on her face, then shoved it away and said it felt evil."  
  
Good Lord, Buffy was right, Giles thought. The One Ring, long thought destroyed had resurfaced on the Hellmouth, in the hands of an elf. If the Ring still existed, what of the Dark Lord Sauron? He had survived after the first battle because the ring remained. Could he still be alive, planning his return to full power? Willow would be a fine addition to his legions of evil, if the ring could corrupt her into darkness. "It spoke to her, tempted her," he said knowingly.  
  
"But she resisted. She's not corrupted," Buffy protested. Willow was okay. She hadn't gone all dark-haired black-magic woman. She'd resisted.  
  
"This time." Giles uttered the words they both were thinking. "Willow is a good person at her core, but she's shown an ability to be tempted by evil beyond that with which she can stand. The last time she lost someone she loved..."  
  
"She went all crazed, black-magic, killing people and destroying the world, I know." Didn't he know that Buffy was the last person who needed to be reminded of Willow's past?  
  
"If we can't find the cure for the poison, if Legolas dies..." Giles shuddered.  
  
"You think she'll use the ring."  
  
"It would be extraordinarily difficult for her to resist, even now, after all of her training this summer. To have the power to destroy those that killed the man she loved... Anyone would be tempted, but the combination of the One Ring and her magical powers..."  
  
"The world would be doomed." His earlier words had sunk in. The ring had supposedly been destroyed, but somehow it had managed to survive whatever they had done to it. It needed to be destroyed again, but how? "You said this Fellowship destroyed the ring once. How?"  
  
"One of them, the Ringbearer, cast it into the fires of Mount Doom. Legend says that since the ring was forged in the fires of Mount Doom, only there can it be destroyed."  
  
"But it wasn't destroyed. It's still here," Buffy protested. If the ring survived the only known means of its destruction thousands of years ago, then what were they going to do?  
  
"I don't know. The earth's geography has changed dramatically since the old days that even if you wanted to 'cast it into the fires of Mount Doom,' I'm not sure it even exists anymore."  
  
"There has to be a way to destroy it," Buffy insisted.  
  
"I'll consult my books. But you must be careful, Buffy. The ring has tempted good people to evil. One may wield the power with good intentions, but eventually the ring corrupts the heart of its bearer to evil. Always. There are no exceptions," Giles warned. "You have to keep it safe."  
  
Keep it safe. The last magical thing she'd had to keep safe had been The Key. Like, Dawn, this ring was now her responsibility. She just hoped that this time she wouldn't have to die to protect it. Suddenly, she realized Giles was waiting for her to say something. "It's in the living room, in an Ephatra box."  
  
"An Ephatra box? Wherever did you find one of those?"  
  
"Dawn had it. She and Willow had bought it to keep Amy in, when she was still a rat and kept escaping from her Habitrail. Now that Amy's human, Dawn was using it as a jewelry box."  
  
Giles shuddered, thinking of such a powerful magic object used as a child's jewelry box. "In the Ephatra box, the ring is as safe as you can keep it. But be warned -- evil will be seeking the Ring, and the Ring desires to return to its evil master. It will call to you and Dawn as well, Buffy."  
  
"We'll keep that in mind...stay strong... and stay away from it," she reassured him.  
  
"I'll research the poison and get back with you shortly," he promised.  
  
"Great... I'll talk to you later then... and, Giles?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I miss you," she admitted. He'd been her anchor through so many difficult times; without him, sometimes she felt adrift in a sea of never-ending evil.  
  
He smiled. "I miss you too. Stay safe."  
  
"We will. Bye."  
  
As she hung up the phone, Buffy was overcome by a wave of dread. More than just an evil ring would be coming to oppose them. Her Spider-sense was tingling... Another apocalypse was coming, only this time, they had no idea of who was bringing it on. "So much for an apocalypse-free day," she muttered. She headed to the living room to give Willow the update from Giles. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Willow settled down onto the floor next to the couch. She checked Legolas's pulse, noting that it was still very weak. She'd tried to get him to drink some water, but he was too far out of it to even try to swallow. Still, if the poison didn't kill him, she'd hate for him to die of dehydration.  
  
"He's not going to die," she murmured to herself, propping her laptop open on her lap. With her wireless modem she could do research from anywhere in the house, leaving her free to be at Legolas's bedside...er...couchside.  
  
She typed quickly, sifting through site after site looking for exactly what she wanted. There had to be something, somewhere that could help him.  
  
Legolas moaned, stirring restlessly. Willow adjusted the cool compress on his head and squeezed his hand. "I'm not going to let you die," she promised. "You are far too important to me. I know we never said anything, really, about how we felt about each other...but it's obvious, you know? I said I 'care' about you but it goes much deeper than that." She soothingly stroked his hair, hoping that he knew she was there, watching over him. "I love you. I think you love me too. And I'm not going to let you die." She sat back down and picked up her computer, determined to scour the net until she found a solution to the mystical problem.  
  
****  
  
Hidden from Willow's sight, Buffy could hear her speech. She was right - Will did love her elf. Buffy scrutinized her friend. Wills didn't seem to be corrupted, so maybe the ring wasn't talking to her...or if it were, she was strong enough to resist it. She had to be. If Willow succumbed to the will of the evil ring and was seduced by its evil, they were all doomed.  
  
Turning around, Buffy nearly ran into Dawn. She pushed her little sister backwards, towards the kitchen.  
  
"What was that about?" Dawn asked indignantly.  
  
"Nothing," Buffy replied. "Just...Willow was talking to Legolas. Private, personal stuff. I didn't think she needed company."  
  
"Okay." Dawn nodded. She held up a small pile of books. "'Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs,' 'Curses, Hexes, and Spells,' 'Mystical Potions for All Occasions.'" She read off the titles. "Unfortunately, there's no 'Help! My Elf Boyfriend's Been Poisoned' book... but I'm working on it."  
  
"Good." Buffy nodded. She grabbed her cell phone and headed for the door. "I'm going to call Wesley, see if he knows anything. Call Anya...she's like a thousand years old and was big into magical vengeance for most of that time...maybe she knows something. Call Xander, too. He can help you with the research."  
  
"What about Spike?" Dawn asked. "Should we see if he can help, too?"  
  
Buffy grimaced. Spike was talking to invisible people and living in the high school basement. How could she explain the vampire's current state to her little sister? "Spike...hasn't really been himself lately. I don't think he'd be a lot of help." She headed out the door. "Call Xander and Anya."  
  
Dawn gave a mock salute, heading to the phone. Sisters. Sometimes they could be so...  
  
****  
  
Buffy headed out to the backyard, not wanting to take the chance that Willow could overhear her conversation with Wesley. Her friend was in love again, which would have been wonderful, if only the object of her love hadn't been dying in the living room. They had to find a way to save Legolas...for Willow, if not for the rest of the world.  
  
She flipped open her cell phone and dialed.  
  
"Angel Investigations, we help the helpless," came a female voice over the phone. "No one's available to take your call right now, but if you leave your name, number, and the nature of your problem, we'll get back to you as soon as possible."  
  
Darn. No one was at the office. Now what? Did Wesley even have a cell phone? Was the stuffy British guy even capable of using the modern technology? Buffy couldn't imagine Giles using a cell phone, an Wesley was basically a mini-Giles...well, without the fun or personality. Though, apparently, from what she'd gathered from Willow's conversations with the L.A. crew, Wesley had changed quite a bit lately. Speaking of Willow... if anyone would know how to get in contact with Wesley... at the very least she could look him up on the net.  
  
With a sigh, she headed back inside. Though she'd wanted to leave Willow alone with Legolas for a while, time was of the essence -- she'd have to interrupt her. "Willow?" she called, heading for the living room. "I'm just getting the machine at Angel Investigations. Do you know how else I can get a hold of Wesley?"  
  
"Hold on." Willow began typing. "Accessing my address book. Angel, Cordy, Wesley... there it is..." She wrote down a set of numbers on a scrap of paper. "Home and cell."  
  
Buffy smiled. "Thanks, Will." She headed for the doorway. "I'll tell you when we know something."   
  
She headed back out to the backyard. Better try his cell phone first. If no one was left at the office, she doubted Wesley would be sitting home and knitting. Buffy hesitated before hitting 'send.' She hadn't talked to Wesley in so long. They'd exchanged brief words on her last trip to L.A., but that had been a couple of years ago. "Here goes nothing," she muttered, finally hitting the 'send' button.  
  
"Hello." He picked up the phone on the second ring.  
  
"Wesley? It's Buffy." They'd never exactly been close. Would he be willing to talk to her after how she'd treated him most of the time she'd known him?  
  
"Buffy?" Wesley's surprise was evident in his voice. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"I need information on magical poisons. Something specialized. Something powerful enough to kill an elf."  
  
"An elf?" he asked in disbelief. "Did you say an elf?"  
  
Great, more disbelief. Buffy groaned. Didn't anyone believe that an elf might talk to a human being these days? "Yes. I know that they're extremely rare in modern times. But he's the real thing. Pointy ears, shiny hair, the works. An elf. He's in my living room dying, and we don't know why. He acted like he's got a bad case of the flu, only now he's unconscious."  
  
Wesley paused, as if he were trying to process her rapid-fire stream of information. "Elves are immortal. They can't catch human diseases."  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes. He really needed to get over this 'I'm-in-shock' thing and get with the program. "I know. Which is why we think he's been hit by some kind of mystical poison. It's bad, Wes. The last time I saw something this bad was when..."  
  
"When Angel was poisoned," he finished grimly.   
  
Buffy grimaced. That night had permanently torn a rift in her already shaky relationship with her replacement Watcher and cemented her belief in the selfish callousness of the Watcher's Council. Both a high and low point in her life, it had been the night she quit working for the Council - he Slayer graduation, as it were.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't help you then."  
  
A harsh laugh escaped from her throat. He sounded truly sorry now, but why couldn't he have felt that way when she'd needed him? "Water under the bridge, Wes. What matters now is Legolas."  
  
"Legolas? The Legolas?"  
  
Again with the shock. You'd think this elf guy was Elvis or something, the way Giles and Wes were talking about him. "Yeah. Giles told me he was famous. I know all about the Fellowship, the One Ring, yadda, yadda, yadda. What I don't know is how to cure him."  
  
Suddenly, Wesley was all business. "I don't know of any poison that powerful, off the top of my head, but I've got books on the subject. I'll look into it. Failing that, I'll ask the Watcher's Council."  
  
"I don't exactly have a lot of faith in the Council, Wes." After all that they'd put her through, she basically thought they were a bunch of self-absorbed, holier-than-thou idiots.  
  
"There's no stipulation against helping elves, Buffy. And even if there were... well, let's say if the Council knows anything, I'll find out what it is."  
  
"What if...?"  
  
"I'll find out."  
  
His voice was harder, colder. Buffy knew that he'd been through a lot since he'd left Sunnydale. Looks like the once-pompous Watcher was finally doing what was right instead of what he was told to do. "Thanks, Wesley."  
  
"I'll be in touch."  
  
Buffy remained silent and still, even after she'd heard the click that indicated he'd hung up.   
  
****  
  
Far from Sunnydale, another felt the stirrings of evil.  
  
It was almost time, Haldir thought, for time to come around again. Circles of existence, lives entwined, time and again. The past fed the future, the future nourished the past. What was yet to be for one was the past for another.   
  
Cycles. Fate.  
  
It was time, and he would be needed. He hurried through the dark streets, knowing that destiny awaited. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Willow's fingers moved swiftly, the keyboard clicking in time with her strokes. The information she needed to help Legolas must be somewhere on the net... but she couldn't find it. Her favorite occult sites had come up dry, and her google search was useless - "magic" sites written by blessed-wanna-bes, "elf" sites run by fantasy gamers, and "poison" sites written by people too scary to contemplate knowing. No site that combined all three keywords, though there was one with real information on actual elves. She scanned the site. If nothing else it couldn't hurt to know more about Legolas's people, even if there wasn't any information on how to poison 'em there.  
  
"Damn," Willow muttered, reaching for her coffee cup. Cold. She gulped it anyway, needing the caffeine. She hadn't slept very well since she'd returned from the forest... since she'd met Legolas, he'd haunted her dreams. Now there was no time for sleep; she had to stay awake, had to keep working... and she had to ignore the whispers from that obnoxious ring on the mantel.  
  
"I'm not listening," she said aloud, knowing that the ring could hear her. "Not that it'll stop you from talking to me, but I'm not going to give in." She felt the compulsion, the 'knowledge' in her head that all she had to do was put on the ring and all would be okay again. She'd have the power to cure Legolas, then kill whatever evil thing had poisoned him. All she had to do...  
  
"You're not going to sucker me in that easily," she told the ring. She remembered Legolas's words in the forest, reminding her of her strength. "I'm on to you. I've faced darkness, and I survived. I can resist your temptation." At least, she hoped she could.  
  
****  
  
Buffy poured a cup of coffee before the machine had even stopped percolating. She gulped down the hot liquid, grabbing a second cup from the shelf and pouring it as she drank.  
  
"I'm going to take this into Willow," Buffy said.  
  
"What about me?" Dawn asked, looking up from her perusal of a book on magical potions from the Renaissance.  
  
"What about you what?" Buffy looked at her sister, puzzled.  
  
"Why aren't you bringing me coffee?"  
  
Coffee? Since when did Dawn drink coffee? Buffy had never thought about her sister becoming a coffeeholic like the rest of the crew. She was still a kid. "You're young. Coffee will... stunt your growth." Okay, lame, but it was the best she could come up with on short notice.  
  
Dawn looked at her, disgusted. That was the best Buffy could come up with? "I'm already taller than you are. Stunt-free, really."  
  
Buffy sighed. Little sisters could be such pains. She handed Dawn the other cup of coffee, pouring a third cup for Willow. "Happy?"  
  
Dawn smiled. "Can you bring me the sugar?"  
  
****  
  
Willow felt her eyelids drooping, and hastily downed the dregs from her cup, wincing at the bitter taste. "Must stay awake," she murmured.  
  
She turned around and took Legolas's hand in her own. "I'm not going to let you die," she promised. She brought the back of his hand up against his cheek, remembering their time together in the forest. He'd touched her so tenderly, so lovingly despite the fact that he was too afraid to get close enough to anyone to love. Her eyes drifted closed as she remembered their kiss.  
  
****  
  
Buffy hesitantly approached the living room. She didn't want to interrupt if Willow was having another heart to heart with her unconscious... what was he, exactly, to her? Not a boyfriend, really, but 'afraid-of-caring-about-anyone-elf-friend' was too long to say.  
  
The living room was silent. She didn't even hear the familiar clacking of the keys on Willow's computer.  
  
Buffy peeked around the corner. She saw Willow asleep, clutching Legolas's hand like a lifeline. Poor Wills. She'd found someone to love again, but he didn't want anything to do with other people. Then when he did finally show up on her doorstep, he was dying from some mystical poison. Life wasn't fair. Why couldn't they have normal love lives like people who didn't live on the Hellmouth?  
  
She turned away. Let Willow sleep; she'd wake her in an hour.  
  
****  
  
When Willow opened her eyes, she was lying in a forest. Not Breaker's Woods... it felt different. Older, more powerful. She smiled, realizing that she wasn't alone. She snuggled deeper into Legolas' embrace.  
  
"Are you awake, my love?" he whispered, kissing the top of her head.  
  
"Barely," she confessed, closing her eyes and relishing the feeling of lying in his arms. "I'm so comfy here I don't want to wake up."  
  
He gently stroked her back as he spoke. "You must, you know, sometime. This cannot last forever."   
  
"Why not? I like it here." She didn't want to wake up, didn't want to remember. Bad things would happen when she woke up.  
  
"This isn't reality, meleth nin."  
  
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. His bright blue eyes stared down at her intently. "You may rest here, but reality is waiting for you to awake," he reminded her.  
  
Then she remembered. Legolas. Coma. Couch. "You're lying unconscious on Buffy's couch... You're..."  
  
"Dying." He nodded. "I know."  
  
"I'm not going to let you die," Willow assured him. "We'll find a cure."  
  
"That is not what is important."  
  
"No! It is! It's very important," she protested.  
  
"Darkness is coming. Unless you can stop it, evil will cover this land, destroy all that is good, and enslave what little of humanity remains," he warned  
  
"The ring..." She looked away, unwilling to tell him how much she'd wanted to give in, to use the ring to help her cure him.  
  
"You're strong. You have faced darkness and temptation and have already triumphed over them. You can resist its lure." He turned her to face him. "I believe in you, Willow." His moved closer, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "Awaken," he commanded.  
  
****  
  
Willow sat up, startled. She was propped up against Buffy's couch, holding Legolas's hand. She'd dreamed... had it been a dream, or had she really been communicating with him in her sleep? If only there was so me way to find out.  
  
"Time for more research." She reached for her laptop, confident and determined once more.  
  
"Hey, Will." Buffy came into the room carrying two cups of coffee.  
  
"Ooh!" Willow smiled broadly. "Caffeinated goodness. Kindness, thy name is Buffy."  
  
Buffy smiled, handing Willow a cup and sitting down in a nearby chair. "How's it going?"  
  
Willow's smile fell. "Not good. I can't find much on magical poisons and those I did find aren't strong enough affect elves. They're apparently very resistant to both magical and physical illness."  
  
"Takes major mojo to knock 'em down, huh?" Buffy tucked one leg up underneath her as she sipped her coffee.  
  
"Definitely. Whoever did this has serious power."  
  
Buffy watched Willow closely. The redhead looked like she was going to say something, but didn't quite know what to say. "Why do I sense there's something more to this story?"  
  
"Whoever did this was a major magic user. Even at my most powerful, right after I absorbed all the dark magic books, I don't think I would have had the power to work a spell to create a poison that could kill an elf."  
  
Buffy stopped. More powerful than Dark Willow? No one could have stopped her physically or magically. She'd nearly destroyed all of them, and only the love of Xander brought her back from the edge. If this new villain in Sunnydale was more powerful... "We are in such deep trouble."  
  
Coffee cup in hand, Dawn appeared in the entranceway to the living room. She'd been reading for hours with no success. There had to be a better way to fight this thing. "Maybe we can do something with the ring. Use the enemy's strength against him or something like that."  
  
"No!" cried Buffy and Willow simultaneously.  
  
Dawn jumped back. "It was just a suggestion."  
  
Buffy walked over and put an arm around her sister. "This ring is big-time black magic. No redeeming qualities. It corrupts good people into doing evil things." She captured Dawn's gaze, making sure the young woman understood. "The ring stays in the box until we figure out how to destroy it."  
  
"Okay." Dawn nodded.   
  
"Don't listen to it," Willow warned. "Both of you. The ring talks to you, gets inside your head, tries to make you believe that everything is going to be okay if you just put it on. But it's not true. Legolas told me so."  
  
"Legolas told you?" Dawn asked, puzzled. "Before or after he collapsed into a coma?"  
  
"After," Willow said.   
  
Dawn's eyes widened. How could he tell her anything if he was unconscious?  
  
Willow looked up to find Buffy watching her, understanding in the Slayer's eyes. "You sure it was real? Not just a dream?" Buffy asked.  
  
"You sure you were actually talking to Faith when you were both hospitalized right before graduation? She gave you the key to destroying the mayor from her coma."  
  
Buffy smiled. Maybe Willow really had been talking to Legolas in her dreams. "Be careful," she warned. "Make sure this isn't some kind of wacky magic caused by whatever witch or wizard is out there working on his evil plan."  
  
"I'm careful. Always," the redhead reassured her.  
  
"So, do we know how to destroy it?" Dawn had crossed the living room while the two were talking. She picked up the box and looked at it, as if she could peer through its fenestrated wooden walls. "Seems like a lot to go through for something so small."  
  
Willow walked over to Dawn, firmly took the box from her and set it back on the mantel. "We're working on it. Now, back to research." She gently pushed Dawn in the direction of the kitchen.  
  
"I'm book girl." With a wave, Dawn headed back to her reading.  
  
Willow looked in the direction where Dawn had gone, then back at the box. "Buffy..."  
  
"We'll keep an eye on her."  
  
"We all need to be careful." Willow hugged her arms around her, wishing Legolas was able to hold her.  
  
"We will." Buffy enveloped Willow in a warm hug. "We're going to find whoever is behind this and destroy him - or her -- and the evil ring." She pointed to the laptop. "Now, work. Dawn told me Xander and Anya are on the way. I'm going to order pizza." 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Alone in his apartment, thousands of miles from Sunnydale, Rupert Giles paced. If what Buffy had told him were genuine, and there truly was an elf dying on her couch, then the evil in Sunnydale was great indeed. Only the most potent of magics could poison an immortal elf.  
  
While he had told Buffy he'd contact the Watchers' Council, he doubted they would have anything useful to contribute. Other avenues would be more useful at this juncture.  
  
He was familiar with the idea of elves, and had even met one years ago. When he'd been a small boy, staying with his Watcher grandmother, she'd been visited by an elf. He remembered the moment quite vividly, sneaking down from his bedroom when he was assumed to be fast asleep. He couldn't sleep, however, knowing that his grandmother was going to meet with one of the oldest immortal warriors on the planet.  
  
He had been tall and dressed in modern clothes. His long blonde hair reached down to the middle of his back, with no concession to the styles of the time. He was almost glowing, imbued with the force of ancient magic.  
  
The elf hadn't stayed long, and young Rupert had crept back up to his bed, hoping his grandmother would be none the wiser about his midnight activities.  
  
The next time he'd seen the immortal being had been at his grandmother's funeral. As they'd all left the cemetery, the elf had pulled him aside and handed him an amulet. "When you need my assistance, simply activate the amulet. I will come."  
  
Giles walked over to a trunk in a corner of the living room, reaching down and opening the lid. Sifting through the piles of books, papers, and miscellaneous magical artifacts, he pulled an intricately carved box out from the bottom of the trunk.  
  
Inside the box was a silver amulet on a thick silver chain. The amulet was engraved with writing in an ancient language - Quenya, he believed, or possibly Sindarin. One of the ancient languages of the elves, in any regard.  
  
He took the amulet over to the kitchen, and held it over the sink as he picked up a steak knife. He cut his finger, letting the blood drip onto the gleaming metal. "Tolthan-le," he murmured. "I summon thee."  
  
****  
  
"Anybody order pizza?" Wrapped in her computer research, Willow barely heard Xander's voice coming from the front hallway.  
  
"Yay!" yelled Dawn, running down the hall from the kitchen. She scrutinized the boxes in Xander's hands. "No cheesy bread? You always get cheesy bread."  
  
Anya came in through the door behind Xander. "Got the cheesy bread. Also, overpriced soda and buffalo wings. Which have always puzzled me, as buffalo from this dimension don't have wings. Now buffalo from the dimension without shrimp, they have wings, but they're much larger, and wouldn't be nearly as good covered in barbeque sauce."   
  
Xander gave his ex-girlfriend a fond smile as Dawn grabbed the bread from Anya. "Willow! Food's here!" she called as she passed the room where Willow sat next to the unconscious elf, her fingers unceasingly clicking over the keyboard.  
  
"Food," Willow muttered. "Who could think of food at a time like this?" Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that apparently she could. Willow kissed Legolas on his forehead, gently stroking his cheek. "I'll be right back. This is just a teensy little break. I'm not going to stop until I find out how to save you."  
  
She made her way back to the kitchen, gratefully taking a glass of Coke as Buffy passed it to her. "Thanks."  
  
"Meat or Veggie?" Dawn asked, scooping pizza onto plates and passing it around the table.  
  
"Veggie," Willow decided, grabbing a breadstick from the box that was passed around the table.  
  
Buffy looked across the table. Willow still looked pale and drawn. She'd barely been sleeping before Legolas was poisoned, but now it was even worse. Dawn looked happy now, but Buffy was concerned about the way her sister seemed to be drawn to the evil ring. Xander, who could always be counted on for moral support - and snacks - was playfully teasing Dawn about the mountain of parmesan cheese she'd heaped on her bread. Anya took a sip of her drink before picking up her buffalo wings, which, now that she'd mentioned it, was a weird name for little wings and legs. Buffy only hoped they really didn't come from strange inter-dimensional buffalo.  
  
The Scooby Gang, together again. Well, sans Giles...and Spike. Still, they'd stopped many an apocalypse together, and together they could find a way to help Legolas. They had to. She didn't know if Willow could survive another loss, or if the world could survive another attack by Dark Willow.  
  
****  
  
An hour after he'd spilled his blood on the amulet, Giles heard a knock on his door. The elf was prompt.  
  
Giles opened the door to his house, both surprised and expecting the sight before him. He'd known that elves were immortal, but the man before him looked exactly as he had twentysome years ago at Giles' grandmother's funeral.  
  
"Haldir," he acknowledged. "Thank you for coming."  
  
"I knew there would be a time in the future when you needed my assistance, though I did not know why." Unlike Galadriel, he could not tell the future. His knowledge had come from travelers to the past, visitors from the twenty-first century who had saved his life at the battle of Helm's Deep. Though they'd been reluctant to impart any information that might change the future, they'd let small details slip - like the name of a Watcher named Giles. He only wished he had learned more information about the growing threat.  
  
Haldir had tracked the Giles family from their first entry to the Council. He'd had a soft spot for Amelia Giles and her young grandson Rupert. The Watcher woman had been intelligent, courageous, and filled with a compassion that most of the other Watchers lacked. As a whole, the members of the Watchers' Council were overly academic, arrogant about their supposedly exclusive knowledge of the supernatural, and disdainful of those they did not consider to be of their ilk.   
  
Though they supposedly protected and trained the Slayer and Slayers-to-be, they had no consideration for the girls, no sympathy for the young ones who gave their lives to defend the world from evil. He'd heard that the current Slayer, Buffy Summers, had mutinied, rejected the Council's authority and continued her demon-slaying mission on her own.  
  
Good for her.  
  
Back to the issue at hand. He stood there, in the home of Rupert Giles, awaiting for the Watcher to voice the reason for his summons.  
  
"You may have noticed that a great evil appears to be rising," Giles began, waiting until Haldir nodded before continuing. "Lately, signs have begun to appear that this evil may be stronger than anything we've ever faced before. Watchers and potential Slayers have been disappearing, never to be heard from again. A friend of mine who is a powerful witch has been having visions of the earth itself opening to swallow us whole. But that is not why I have summoned you tonight. I called you here because she's discovered an elf who appears to have been mystically poisoned."  
  
"Poisoned?" Haldir couldn't believe it. He stood, completely still, trying to comprehend such a thing. "How? What wizard could have accomplished such a feat?"  
  
"We don't know. He apparently showed up on their doorstep and collapsed-"  
  
"Why poison an elf?" Haldir's body tensed, the elf barely restraining the urge to pace. Who could do such a thing? Who would? "We're almost as vulnerable as men to physical violence. Why take the trouble to use powerful magics to create a poison when someone could simply stab, shoot, or decapitate the elf in question?" Then he realized that Rupert hadn't told him who had been poisoned. "Who is it?"  
  
Giles knew who Haldir meant when he'd asked his final question. "Legolas."  
  
Haldir paled. Legolas. His friend. He'd known the younger elf for thousands of years, since the fateful day the Fellowship of the Ring had passed through his homeland of Lothlorien.  
  
"You know him?" Giles asked.  
  
Haldir nodded. "I know all of the elves still present in this world...so few of us left. But Legolas... he has been my friend for a very long time. What is being done to cure this poison?"  
  
"Nothing. We don't even know what caused it, let alone how to cure it."  
  
"There is one poison, one magical elixir known to harm the elves, Dagnir o Edhel, though I have never heard of anyone being able to produce it. To create such a thing would require strong dark magic."  
  
Giles pulled his glasses off his nose, dangling them from one finger. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying desperately to stave off his growing headache. "I think its safe to say that whatever's out there is capable of such magic."  
  
Haldir shook his head. While he'd known he'd be called on to assist the Slayer at some point in his life, he had no idea the consequences would be so dire. "The remedy must be prepared."  
  
"You know the cure?" Giles put his glasses back on, staring at Haldir in shock.  
  
"If there were only one known poison capable of felling your kind would you not make it a point to know the cure?"  
  
Giles nodded. The elf had a point. "What does it entail?"  
  
"I will gather the ingredients and then you will take me to Legolas."   
  
The command was imperative in his voice. Giles was not used to being told what to do, but it was clear that Haldir was not used to people questioning his decrees. After all, who was going to argue with someone thousands of years old?  
  
"I haven't told you everything." Giles turned away, walking over to the window and staring out at the night. "Events are far worse than the poisoning of an elf."  
  
Haldir stood up even straighter, steeling himself for what was coming next. He had a horrible feeling about what Rupert was going to say.  
  
"The One Ring has resurfaced." He paused, waiting for Haldir's reaction.  
  
The elf stepped back, staggering under the weight of Giles confession. The One Ring? Back again to work its evil will? "Impossible," he gasped, unable to do more than stand dumbly, watching the Watcher as he continued his explanation.  
  
"Historical records clearly state that the Ringbearer carried the ring to the fires of Mount Doom, where it was cast into the fiery chasm and forever destroyed. However, Buffy, the Slayer, has told me that it appears to have resurfaced and is currently located her living room."  
  
"That's impossible," Haldir insisted, striding closer to Giles. "She must be mistaken."  
  
He spun around to face the elf. "The ring spoke to her, spoke to all of them. It's real and it's in Sunnydale, California. Legolas was protecting it with his life."   
  
"Why not just kill him?"  
  
"Perhaps the persons responsible thought the poison would simply weaken Legolas, leaving him more vulnerable to temptation." He paused before voicing his next thought. Perhaps this evil was even more insidious than they were giving it credit for. "Or perhaps they wanted something worse to come of his death."  
  
Haldir stared at Giles, waiting for an explanation with barely contained impatience.  
  
"Legolas didn't go to Buffy's house because she's the Slayer. He went because of Willow. She's a witch, one of the Slayer's friends. She had somehow become acquainted with Legolas. Fell in love with him, apparently." He paused, unsure as how to go on. "She's quite powerful. Under most circumstances, she's good and kind. But the last time she lost someone she loved...she went crazy, wild. Delved deep into dark magics, killed her lover's murder - flayed him alive, actually - and tried to end the world."  
  
Haldir blinked. The One Ring was potentially in the hands of a powerful witch who had once tried to end the world. "If she uses the ring..." he warned.  
  
Giles quieted him with a wave of his hand. "She's strong. She won't."  
  
"If she uses the ring, the world as we know it is over. The ring will corrupt her completely, and darkness will rule the land."  
  
"She won't," Giles insisted. He knew Willow, knew all that she'd been through since Tara's death. She would not descend into evil again.   
  
"You'd best be certain of that fact, because if she does, the world is doomed." 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Xander pulled his car up in front of Anya's apartment building. She smiled as he got out of the car to open her door. Sometimes, he could be quite the gentleman.  
  
He held out a hand to help her from the car. Not that she needed help, he knew, but it was one of the few little ways he was still allowed to touch her. The parking lot of her complex was well-lit - a key feature for those who were repeatedly attacked by demons, 'cause you always wanted to know what was coming after you.  
  
She was still beautiful, standing there with the moonlight reflecting on her dark brown hair. He wished...but wishing was futile, unless he was going to wish vengeance on himself in Anya's name.  
  
Xander clenched his teeth, knowing it was his fault that they were going home to separate apartments. He'd done the unforgivable, and now he had to pay. If he hadn't left her at the altar, they'd be together now.  
  
Anya grew uneasy at Xander's continued scrutiny. What was he staring at, and why didn't he let go of her hand? Not that she really wanted him to let go, she admitted; she loved the warmth of his hands. True, now she was a vengeance demon again, with power beyond his comprehension, but she'd been mortal once, and his arms had made her feel safe. She wished she could run into them, hold him, touch his body and make the rest of the world go away. But she couldn't. All that had ended the horrible day he'd left her at the altar.  
  
"Xander?" Anya asked.  
  
He looked down, belatedly realizing he still held her hand. "Sorry, Ahn." He let her go, putting his hands in his pockets to remind himself not to touch her again. "Just thinking."  
  
"About?" She asked, scrutinizing his face for any sign of what was going on in his mind.  
  
"Elves...demons..." he offered hesitantly, before looking up and meeting her gaze. "Us."  
  
"Us?" All thoughts of elves, demons, and world-ending danger faded away. Anya's heart was pounding furiously in her chest, her world narrowing to the two of them in that one moment.   
  
Xander brought one hand up to cup her cheek, gently stroking the silky skin. Anya closed her eyes and nuzzled against his hand, her hand coming up to hold his closer.  
  
"Anya," he whispered as they drew closer to each other.  
  
"Shh." She placed one finger over his lips to stop his words. "Don't say anything. Just for tonight, make the world go away."  
  
Their lips met, bodies melding in the dark moonlight. It was a long time before either had the willpower to pull apart long enough to enter Anya's apartment.  
  
****  
  
"They have the ring," growled the deposed white wizard, striding through the underground cavern. "And the elf still lives."  
  
"C'mon, gramps," a voice in the darkness said, as an impeccably dressed blonde woman stepped from the shadows. "Don't get your robes in a wad. He'll die, the witch'll go crazy, and the ring will return to us, bringing with it a powerful ally. Simple, really."  
  
Saruman, resurrected wizard, glared at The First. Its continually-changing appearance annoy the Maiar no end. Why couldn't the blasted thing pick a shape and stay that way? More perplexing, the First appeared to favor forms that had been defeated by the Slayer - an ancient vampire referred to as The Master, a dark-haired vampire woman known as Drusilla, a demonic being that had once been Sunnydale's mayor, a human-demon hybrid called Adam, an annoying minor sorcerer named Warren, and its current incarnation, a hell-goddess from a parallel dimension who identified herself by the preposterous name of Glory. The First even appeared in the form of the Slayer, who, as Saruman understood it, had died more than once but was not currently dead.  
  
Slayers. They had not had such menaces during his time.  
  
"Don't forget who's in charge here," First-Glory warned. "I raised you from the ground to carry out my plan. You may be a powerful old evil wizard, but I'm evil itself. Older than even the Maiar." She stalked over to him, making sure his eyes were following his every move. "You've died once, old man. You're not immortal - but I am."  
  
Saruman's eyes flashed dark at its words. He glared at the apparition before him.  
  
"I'm the ultimate evil. I've been waiting a long time for this and I'm going to win this fight." She turned, walked back to a flat outcropping of rock along the wall and lifted herself up on it. "Our time is coming sooner than anyone thinks. So sit back and enjoy the show." She smiled evilly. "I know I will."  
  
****  
  
"Round and round, up and down." Spike muttered to himself. He couldn't see anyone else in the room he'd claimed as his in the basement of the high school, but that didn't mean someone wasn't there.  
  
Someone was always there, watching, waiting. Lurking in the shadows. He heard whispers, voices calling his name, telling him to do terrible things. He didn't want to do terrible things. He was good now, but the people in the darkness didn't understand.   
  
"It's not time. Not time." He hunched down on the ground, completely still. If he didn't move, the voices couldn't find him. "Time is. Time was. Time to kill. No. Not to kill. Time to pay." He shook his head. "Must pay. William's been a naughty boy. Must pay."   
  
Still. Quiet. Had to be quiet as a mouse. Mustn't disturb mother. Must protect...  
  
No! Voices. "Voices in my head," he moaned. "Voices. Make them stop." When his quiet murmurs weren't sufficient, he yelled out "Get out of my head!"  
  
"Now Spike," came a voice from the shadows on the side of the room. "You don't really mean that."  
  
She stepped into view. Buffy. But not Buffy. Evil. Evil Buffy. "You're not her." He shook his head. "You're not Buffy."  
  
"I'm who you want me to be, Spike," she taunted.  
  
"Leave me alone." He turned around and closed his eyes. She wasn't real. He didn't have to see her, hear her. All he had to do was turn away.  
  
Behind Spike, Buffy morphed into Drusilla, who crouched down beside him. "Now why would I want to do that to my Spike when I have such big plans for him?" She leaned closer, whispering in his ear. "You can't escape me, no matter how hard you try. You're mine, forever..."  
  
Straightening up, Drusilla morphed back into Buffy. "Don't worry, Spike. It's not your time yet... but one day, it will be."  
  
He watched as she disappeared in a flash of light.  
  
****  
  
From a corner of Spike's basement room, Trance Gemini watched. Out of sync with time and space, the time-altering alien was invisible to his eyes. Good thing, she thought, because he didn't look like he could handle another shock to his system. He'd get better, she reassured herself, knowing that he had to. Too much was riding on Spike for him to fail now.  
  
She shouldn't be here, shouldn't be in this time, but to ensure a perfect possible future, she had to watch events closely. She'd already set fate in motion in Los Angeles, sending help to the champion of the 'City of Angels.' It wasn't time for her here yet. Silently she faded back to her own time. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
The research party had been a bust. The Scoobies had worked until they'd fallen asleep in their books, no further information had been found about a way to cure Legolas. The house was dark now, after Xander and Anya had returned to their respective homes and Buffy and Dawn had gone to sleep.  
  
Willow couldn't sleep, so there she sat, on the ground beside the couch which held her Elven love. She gently stroked his cheek, absently repositioning the cloth on his forehead. He was fading quickly. Earlier, he'd been stirring, moaning and groaning in his sleep. Now, he simply laid on the couch unmoving, the faint rise and fall of his chest as he breathed the only indication that he was still alive.  
  
She held his hand, cradling it to her despite the cold and clammy feeling of his skin. She needed to be close to him. Hell, she wanted to crawl up on the couch with him, though she didn't think that would be very good for his convalescence. Not that there was much convalescing to be done... more like fading and dying.  
  
"Hold on," she whispered, settling on the floor and resting her head against his side. "We'll find a cure. You just have to hold on." Her voice trailed off as she drifted off to sleep.  
  
****  
  
When Willow awoke, she was lying on the ground. She instantly recognized the old forest, which meant... "I'm dreaming," she whispered. But if she were dreaming, where was Legolas?  
  
She pushed herself to her feet, scanning the forest. She spotted her love sitting on a rock on the bank of a tiny river. "Legolas?" she called, walking over to where he sat.  
  
He turned around at the sound of her voice. She was here with him once more. "Willow." He smiled, unable to contain the joy he felt at her presence.  
  
She smiled back, walking over and enveloping him in her arms.  
  
Legolas held her close, inhaling the cinnamon-vanilla scent that was pure Willow. She fit perfectly in his arms, her soft body warmed by the rays of the sun. Imaginary realm or not, it was a beautiful day.  
  
"I wish I could stay here forever," she murmured, snuggling closer to his chest. "Just the two of us."  
  
He stroked her hair gently, enjoying its silky feel as it ran through his fingers. "Alas, cannot be."  
  
"Should be." Willow pouted. She looked up at him, saw the love shining in his eyes. Real or not, she couldn't let this moment go by without telling him how she felt. "I love you," she confessed. "I know its soon, 'cause we haven't known each other very long, and it's under freaky circumstances, and that you don't want to get involved with anyone, but-"  
  
He silenced her with a kiss, capturing her lips with his own and probing her warm recesses with his tongue. Willow met him thrust for thrust, welcoming his possession. Her hands crawled up his chest and laced behind his head, pulling him even closer until not an inch of space was found between them.  
  
Over and over their lips met, exchanging wild kisses until they were both breathless. Gasping, Willow pulled away, nestling her head on his chest and listening to the beating of his racing heart.  
  
"I love you," Legolas whispered against her hair. "Always believe that. Whatever doubts I had about a relationship, it was never about you. Just me and my thousands of years of emotional baggage."  
  
Oh goddess. Willow knew why he was saying this. The reason he hadn't wanted to be involved with anyone was that he couldn't stand the pain of losing the people he loved again. The fact that he told her that he loved her could only mean one thing - Legolas thought that he would be the one lost this time - he knew he was going to die.  
  
"Legolas, no!" She protested, pulling away to look up at him.  
  
"You don't want me to love you?" he teased.  
  
"You know what I mean." Willow felt the tears welling up in her eyes, and buried her head back against his chest. "You're only telling me you love me because you think you're going to die."  
  
He pushed her away until he could meet her eyes, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before speaking. "I'm telling you I love you because I wouldn't want to die without you knowing. There's a subtle, but highly important difference in the two statements." He stared into her deep green eyes. "I do not know whether I will die or not, but if I do, I do not want to go to my grave without telling you of my love." He bent down and kissed her, softly this time. "I will love you, Willow Rosenberg, to the end of my days, however long they will be."  
  
"I love you too," she whispered, tugging him down for another kiss. This time Willow was the aggressor, pulling him closer, pushing his lips apart with her tongue so she could taste him. Legolas's arms came around her waist, pulling her flush against him. "Legolas," she gasped. "I... want..."  
  
Caught up in the passion that flared between them, Willow barely noticed the noise in the distance. It sounded like... bells? Why would there be bells in the forest?  
  
"No!" Willow screamed, opening her eyes and finding herself sitting on the floor of Buffy's living room. The ringing came again - the telephone, waking her from sleep. She sobbed, gasping for breath. She didn't want to miss what might be her last few moments with Legolas.  
  
She didn't want to wake up, but she didn't have a choice. Once awakened, she found herself unable to go back to sleep.  
  
"Willow?" She heard Buffy's voice coming from the hallway. "You awake?"  
  
"Yeah," Willow sniffed, wiping away her tears.  
  
Buffy's felt her heart breaking as she saw her best friend huddled on the floor, valiantly trying to wipe away the tears she shed for her dying love. The blonde rushed over to Willow's side, sitting down on the floor and putting an arm around the other girl. Buffy pulled Willow over until her head rested on Buffy's shoulder. "Shh. Everything's going to be okay."  
  
"It's not," Willow protested with a sob. "We can't find a cure. He's going to die and there's nothing any of us can do about it."  
  
"He's not going to die." Buffy watched the play of the moonlight on the silky red tresses as she stroked her friend's hair.  
  
Willow looked up. Buffy sounded awfully sure about that. More than her usual pep-talkiness.   
  
"Giles was on the phone. He apparently has an old family friend who's an elf - and said elf knew that there's only one poison strong enough to take down his kind. They're getting stuff together for the cure and will be here tomorrow."  
  
"Tomorrow? The cure will be here tomorrow?" Willow's face lit up as she smiled. "He'll be cured tomorrow." She threw her arms around Buffy in a big hug.  
  
On the couch, Legolas gasped, again and again, as if he was desperately searching for much-needed air. His breaths grew shallow, with increasing space between each breath.  
  
"No!" Willow yelled. He couldn't die, not when they were so close to the cure. "You are not going to die." She felt the power filling her, coming up from the earth and down from the sky. She was one with nature, with the world. She was strong. She let the earth's power flow through her into Legolas, imbuing him with life.  
  
Buffy watched Willow's eyes grow dark, felt the wind whipping around her as she channeled her magical energy towards the elf. The witch was shouting in a language Buffy vaguely recognized as Latin, words the Slayer didn't understand.  
  
With one last breath, Willow collapsed onto the ground. She fought to remain conscious, despite the lethargy that pulled her down.  
  
"Willow!" Buffy shouted, kneeling down next to her friend.  
  
"I'm fine," Willow gasped. "Legolas? Is he..." Unable to lift her head off the ground, Willow had no way of knowing whether her desperate spell had even been successful.  
  
"Alive?" Buffy asked, looking over at the elf on the couch. He wasn't nearly as pale as he had been and seemed to be breathing more comfortably. "He's alive," she reassured Willow, stroking her trembling back. "You did it, Will."  
  
With a sigh of relief, Willow surrendered to unconsciousness.  
  
Buffy nearly collapsed alongside Willow. She'd thought Legolas was done for, and that Wills might sacrifice herself trying to keep him from being done, but she hadn't. She'd used powerful magics to save Legolas, and had done it without being consumed by dark magic. She'd proven herself - assuming she survived the effort. The witch was now unconscious, along with Legolas. Buffy didn't know exactly how Willow's spell worked - had her power bound her to the elf's fate? Would she survive if Legolas died? More than ever, they had to save him.   
  
She picked up the phone, quickly redialing Giles in England.  
  
****  
  
In Canterbury, Giles was hurriedly packing his books into a small suitcase while waiting for Haldir to return with the ingredients for the elf-saving spell.  
  
The phone rang as he stuffed a copy of The Pergamum Codex into his bag.  
  
"Giles."  
  
"Buffy?" he asked, startled. He'd just talked to the Slayer. What could be so bad that she was calling again? Oh, dear Lord. Was Legolas dead? "Is he..." Giles broke off mid-sentence, unable to complete the thought out loud.  
  
"He's alive, Giles, but only because Willow did some sort of spell.... Earth power magic or something like that." She took a deep breath before continuing. "He doesn't have much time. Hurry. Saving him once nearly killed Willow; in fact, she's still unconscious. Even if she wakes up, she can't do it again. It'll kill her."  
  
Giles groaned inwardly. If only they were closer. If only... the two worst words in the English language.   
  
Creek! Giles spun around at the sound of his door opening. It was Haldir.  
  
"Legolas is nearing the end. We have to hurry," Giles told him. "Buffy is afraid he might not last until our arrival."  
  
Haldir strode across the room, grabbing the phone from Giles. "He still lives?"  
  
Buffy's eyes narrowed at the unfamiliar voice on the phone. Was this Giles elf friend? "Yeah. He's alive. Barely."  
  
"You must make a potion," Haldir instructed. "Equal parts angelica, celandine, and meadowsweet. Steep the herbs in boiling water and force Legolas to swallow it. The healing properties in the herbs should keep him stable long enough for us to get to your location with the definite cure."  
  
"Angelica? Celery? Meadow-whatsis?" Buffy had no idea what the elf was talking about. She was a Slayer, not a witch.  
  
Thousands of miles away Haldir cursed, pacing with Giles' portable phone in hand. The fate of his friend was left to someone who didn't know the difference between celandine and celery?   
  
Buffy groaned. She didn't know anything about magic herbs. Why did Willow have to pick now to be unconscious?   
  
"Meadowsweet," came Dawn's voice from the darkness behind Buffy. "It's used in love charms and in spells to protect against evil."  
  
Buffy turned and rotated the phone away from her mouth. "Since when have you known magic-herb-spell stuff?"  
  
"Tara taught me. It was cool. Like school, only fun."  
  
Buffy shoved the phone at Dawn. "Here. You talk to the elf."  
  
Talk to the elf? Dawn wondered. Another elf, for real? That wasn't some weird kind of code, was it?  
  
"Talk to him," Buffy mouthed, handing her the phone.  
  
"Hello?" Dawn asked hesitantly.  
  
Another voice, Haldir noted. Hopefully this girl had more knowledge than the other. "You must make a potion. Equal parts angelica, celandine, and meadowsweet. Steep the herbs in boiling water and force Legolas to swallow it," he repeated.  
  
"Angelica. Celandine. Meadowsweet," the teenager repeated. "Check. Can do. Just have to send Buffy out to the Magic Box."  
  
"Magic Box?" he asked. This young witch kept her herbs in a magical box?  
  
"Anya's store." Dawn turned to her sister. "Buffy. Get a pen and paper. I'll tell you what we need." 


End file.
